§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to reduce the number of teacher sickness absences in Northern Ireland. [88077]
§ Jane KennedyThe monitoring of sick absences is the responsibility of teachers' employers.
Information on teacher absences in the controlled and maintained sectors is routinely made available by the Department to each Education and Library Board and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools.
The Department of Education and the employing authorities are very much aware of the pressures and challenges facing teachers and are working closely with teacher representatives to seek ways of maintaining and improving the health of teachers. The Teachers' Health and Well-being Survey Report has just been published and a strategy group has been established to take forward its recommendations.
The Department and employers will also be looking very carefully at the recommendations in the Northern Ireland Audit Office Report on The Management of 916W Substitution Cover for Teachers, about identifying local patterns and trends so that reasonable targets for reducing sick absences can be set and monitored.